


Now and Forevermore

by LilGray1326



Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: BDSM, F/M, Future Fic, Romance, Sexless Erotica, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-27 20:57:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14433933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilGray1326/pseuds/LilGray1326
Summary: Wherein Caroline comes to Klaus 497 years after that afternoon in the forest.  Klaus mentions if she hadn’t come soon he would have changed tactics and Caroline wants an explanation of what that means and so much more.





	Now and Forevermore

**Author's Note:**

> Series: None for now but I may write several little sequels in the near future.  
> Author: Lilly Gray  
> Characters: Caroline Forbes, Niklaus Mikaelson, Kol Mikaelson, Davina Claire, Freya Mikaelson, Rebekah Mikaelson, Elijah Mikaelson, Damon Salvatore, Tyler Lockwood, Elena Gilbert, and Hope Mikaelson, and mentions of Bonnie Bennett, Finn Mikaelson, Jeremy Gilbert, Matt Donovan, and Hayley Marshall  
> Relationships: Niklaus Mikaelson/Caroline Forbes, Kol Mikaelson/Davina Claire, Damon Salvatore/Elena Gilbert. Slight mentions of Elijah Mikaelson/Hayley Marshall, and Rebekah Mikaelson/Stefan Salvatore. There are also references to past Tyler Lockwood/Caroline Forbes.  
> Genre: Romance, Supernatural, BDSM, Sexless Erotica, Future Fic  
> Rating: Rated M for talk of BDSM and perhaps a bit of actual BDSM  
> Warnings: BDSM, nothing major or too graphic but it is there.  
> Beta/Pre-Reader: None  
> Banner by: Lilly Gray and Kat Luner Marie  
> Word Count: 13,615  
> Prompt/inspiration: Written using/inspired by the lyrics to Caroline by Alex Clare. The song can be found here on Youtube… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI3eNzRQ1zY   
> Status: Complete  
> Timeline Notes: For TVD, everything up to and including the episode when Elena fell asleep happened so through to the end of the last episode of Season 06, except for the Heretics getting loose. For TO, I believe everything including Davina dying (again) happened so Season 03 happened and the first couple of episodes of Season 04 happened too, but the whole Hollow thing never happened so most if not all of Season 04 never took place. However, Davina did come back to life. I haven’t watched Season 04, so I don’t know the details of how that happened or what she is now, but in my story, she’s a witch with all the powers of the ancestors, and they reside inside her now so she can go anywhere in the world and still use magick.  
> The author wishes to thank Samantha for her help nailing down when Klaus and Caroline had sex in season 05… she told me it was Season 05 Episode 11 ‘500 Years in Solitude,’ which allowed me to find out that the canon date is January 13, 2012. Thank you, Samantha!  
> Big thanks to Kat Luner Marie for her suggestion of what the banner should be.  
> The author also wishes to thank the entire KittyinAZ Facebook Group. I’m continually posting questions to the group, and I almost always get the answer I need within an hour, or a few hours at most, so thank you to all of you who put up with my endless questions.   
> And a HUGE thank you to KittyinAZ for giving us all a place where we can be ourselves without fear of condemnation. Every member of the group ROCKS! *Hugs to all of you!*  
> Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries or The Originals. The recognizable characters, settings, locations, plot lines, quotes, etc. from the franchises above belong to their respective owners, not me. Also, I don’t own the lyrics to Caroline they belong to Alex Clare. I am making no money from this story, and no copyright infringement is intended.   
> Author’s Notes: So this story came about because I wanted to use some of the 307 songs I have in a folder full of lyrics to write some one-shots. However, my muse couldn’t choose one, so I had some friends pick numbers and then used the songs’ places in the folder to figure out which song was which number. Kat Luner Marie chose #37, which is ‘Caroline’ by Alex Clare. Hope you enjoy it, Kat Luner Marie!   
> Thanks to everyone who picked a number… Six down, twenty-three more one-shots to write! Lol.

 

**____________________**

**Now and Forevermore**

**By Lilly Gray**

**____________________**

 

“Leave your back door open for me and I

Put your keys in under the door on time

Seems we've been waiting for a long time

My delay surely will be a crime…

 

…I'm sure there's a better man

Somewhere waiting for you

But if he doesn't come along

You know I'll be waiting here for you…

 

…We had each other for too short a while

You caught my soul with your gentle smile

I can swim in your eyes so deep

Rest my lips upon yours so sweet

 

You know just how I feel for you

I know that my love is true

I'm a tired, I've been feelin' blue

Just let me do what I want to do…”

 

Looking at Klaus while he sits next to me on his couch that was an antique a hundred years before I was born, I smile and ask, “So you really waited.  It’s been 497 years since I last saw you and all I had to do was knock on your door, and you smiled and welcomed me with open arms.  What would you have done if I hadn’t come eventually?”

He shifts in his seat but smiles, and it sends shivers down my spine reminding me that his nice guy mask is just one of many layers that make up Klaus Mikaelson and it’s only reserved for his family and me.  Everyone else only gets the monster that is Niklaus Mikaelson.  I’m just lucky enough to get the man _and_ the monster, though honestly, I tend to get more of the man than the Original Hybrid every supernatural the world over fears. 

I met many vampires and supernaturals alike over the years who would mention that they didn’t believe the originals actually existed.  They thought they were just a scary story told to new supes to keep them in line.  Whenever I mentioned that I knew for a fact that they existed and that I even knew from personal experience that the only cure for a werewolf bite was Klaus’s blood they’d quiver with repressed fear and then pump me for information about whether all the rumors about them were true. 

I usually only confirmed the stories that made the originals sound the scariest.  That was partly because I knew I am the only one besides the other Mikaelsons who has ever gotten to see Klaus’ softer side on anything resembling a regular basis.  The other part was because if the world is too scared to make a play at them, then that will keep him safe.  Although he’s the Original Hybrid, there must be some way to kill him, and I’m not in any hurry to find out what that one way is.

He still hasn’t answered my question with anything other than that very bone-chilling smile.  After waiting a few more seconds I raise an eyebrow and do what I do best, I challenge the fifteen-hundred-year-old Hybrid, “Well, surely you, Niklaus Mikaelson, weren’t going to wait around forever for a blonde little baby vampire to get with the program?  I know you better than I care to admit sometimes so I know that not only are you not the type to wait to get what you want if it’s available somewhere else but you would have been right to move on.  So how long did I have to make up my mind?”

His smile just gets wider before he says, “First, you are incorrect in assuming that I can get what I want from you from anyone else in the world.  You are one of a kind Caroline, and while you care freely, your love is a rare gift.”

Shifting, I huff and mutter, “Not that rare, before you, I was willing to love anyone who would look in my direction, I mean why else would I have gotten involved with Damon Salvatore when I was human?  I was a needy, desperate girl who just wanted to be loved, so I gave my love to anyone who acted interested.”

Shaking his head, he asks, “I presume while you had a relationship with Damon that not even you would have been desperate enough to actually love him.  How many men have you actually loved?  ”

Pausing I really think about that question.  How many men have I loved, really loved?  There was Matt.  I definitely loved him.  And I could have loved Stefan.  I think I was in love with Tyler or at least a very romanticized idea of him.  Honestly, the romanticized idea thing was true of Stefan too now that I think about it, even if I didn’t actually love him.  Frowning I tell him, “There have been three people I’ve ever been in love with.  Two were boys, Matt and Tyler, and I definitely loved them, but it was an immature love, the love of a teenager who didn’t know any better.  And then there’s you.  You’re the only grown man I’ve ever loved and the only person grown or otherwise that I’ve loved since I broke up with Tyler and decided I needed to grow the heck up.” 

He smiles a sweet smile at me and says, “See, Luv, in 516 years you’ve loved three people.  Your love is rare because you’ve only actually given it to three men.  I couldn’t then, and I can’t now get your love from anyone but you.”

He stands and then holds his hand down to me.  I take it before he says, “However, you are correct that I would not have let things stand the way they were indefinitely.  Come, I’ll show you how much time you had.”

He leads me to the back of the living room and a set of stairs almost entirely hidden by a wall.  We walk up the flight, and when we reach the landing, he uses his handprint on a scanner to enter a room with a solid steel door.  I can tell from the weakness that slides into my body when I pass the door that it’s got Vervain in or on it, probably both and not just a little but a lot, a whole lot.

He stops before a calendar hanging on a wall and waves his hand indicating I should flip the pages.  I reach out my shaking hand and flip until I reach January 2512.  The 13th is circled in red.  I know the date.  It’s the 500th anniversary of the day I slept with Klaus in the woods behind the Salvatore House. 

It also happens to be the 500th anniversary of the last time I saw Klaus up close and personal before I came knocking on his door earlier today.  Oh, I checked in on him periodically and would watch him from a distance, but this is the first time in almost 500 years that I've been in the same space as him at the same time.

I look at him, and he still has that bone-chilling smile on his face, so I cautiously ask, “January 13, 2512.  Exactly 500 years after we made love together for the first and only time.  You were going to give up hope and let me go on our 500th anniversary?”

He shakes his head slowly and tells me with that damnable smirk on his face, “No Luv, I wasn't going to give up _or_ let you go.  That date is when I would have changed tactics.”

Frowning I look him in the eye, a dangerous pastime for a vampire who hasn’t taken Vervain in months in preparation for coming to him today.  He says nothing, so I ask, “Changed tactics how?”

He smiles a cross between a sweet smile and his creepy serial killer smile and tells me, “Well, Luv, if you must know I was going to find a way to make you love me more than you did.”

I put my hands on my hips and ask, “And _how_ exactly were you going to do that?”

He looks at me hard for a minute with a frown on his face and then tells me, “I didn’t want to waste my time unless I was loving you, Caroline so I would have taken you and then worked on changing your opinion of me.”

I move my hands from my hips and cross my arms over my chest before softly asking, “You would have kidnapped me and ‘made’ me love you?”

He nods slowly, so I nod back and then taking a huge risk I tell him, “Show me, show me what you would have done.”

He’s frowning again, or still, and he shakes his head before saying, “Caroline, Luv, I don’t need to.  You came and declared your love almost exactly three years before my self-imposed deadline.  That deadline was the last resort only.  I much prefer you and your love to be willing.”

Smiling I reach up and brush my hand along his cheek before stealing a kiss, and then I lay it all out on the table, “What if I don’t just want Mr. Nice-Guy Klaus Mikaelson?  What if what I really want is to be owned by Niklaus Mikaelson, The One and Only Original Hybrid.  What if I want every bit of you Klaus, not just the softer sides that you show only to your family and me, but the scary, sadistic, dominating parts too?”

His frown has only gotten deeper before he asks, “What are you saying, Caroline?  Say it plainly so there are no misunderstandings because if you are going where I think you’re going I need your well-informed consent and then I’ll never ask for your opinion or for your permission to do anything to you ever again, so say it.  Tell me what you want, and I’ll give it to you Caroline.  You know me well enough to know I’ll give you whatever you want, so say it.”

Gulping heavily, I stare into his eyes and see nothing but the truth.  If I finish this conversation the way I really want to, I’ll be property by the end of it.  I open my mouth and then close it several times.  He reaches out and strokes my cheek before asking, “Luv, you’re 516 years old.  You’ve been a vampire for just under 500 years, so I’m sure you’ve experimented.  Have you ever given up control, I mean complete control to someone else?”

I shake my head and pacing in front of him tell him in an unintentionally breathy voice, “No, I mean I experimented, but I always had a safe word and, well at the risk of inflating your already out of control ego, none of them were _you_.”

He chuckles and pulls me into his arms before kissing me sweetly.  When he pulls back enough to look at me he’s smiling a huge grin, and it only gets wider when he asks, “None of your other lovers could compare could they?”

I giggle and gently slap his chest, “Oh jeez, there’s that inflated ego I was worried about.”

I pause, and while leaning into his body and playing with one of the buttons on his Henley, I tell him, “In all honesty though, no, none of them could compare.  None of them were who I really wanted, who I really wanted to belong to, mind, body, and soul but I knew I wasn’t ready to come to _you_.  The feelings you invoked in me that day in the woods showed me that I had so much I needed to learn first, about the world and about myself.”

Pausing I laugh, mostly at myself and tell him, “It took me more than twenty-five years to admit that the idea of submitting appealed to the control freak inside me and another ten before I actually tried it.  It took another twenty after that for me to admit that I liked the things the Sirs were doing to me.  And it was another fifty at least before I admitted out loud to myself that I’m a masochist.  And for the record, this is only the fifth or sixth time I’ve said those words out loud, and this is the first and the only time I’ve said them to another person.”

He takes a step away from me.  Did I maybe read him wrong?  He reaches his hand up to my cheek again a moment later, though, and says, “What you’re asking Caroline, there’s no going back from it.  Once you’re mine, my pet and toy, I won’t let you go, and I won’t be interested in changing the dynamic, well at least not for a millennium or so and by then _you_ won’t want to change the dynamic either.  However, in the beginning, the reality will slap you across the face, and you’ll be stuck so think this through very carefully.”

He leads me back towards the door, and I gasp when I realize I completely overlooked the furniture in this room.  It’s not a room, it’s an upstairs dungeon, complete with torture devices that I’m sure we could have quite a bit of fun with. 

He uses his hand on another scanner to unlock the door just like when we entered the room and then leads me back out to the stairwell.  Turning to face me he takes hold of my hand and holds it against the scanner.  It beeps and then he types in a code on a keypad and then presses his hand to the scanner.  He types something else into the machine after it beeps at him and then he turns and looks me square in the eye, “That will permit you a single one-way entry.  Go to bed, think this through very carefully and if you really want to be my toy for eternity then meet me in the chamber.  I’ll expect you to be naked and kneeling.  I assume you understand what’s meant by the word ‘presenting?’”

I nod, so he nods back and tells me, “Very well, at 9 a.m.  every morning I’ll go into that room and see if you’re there in the presenting pose.  You’re under no obligation to meet me in there, but know that once you do there will be no going back so be very sure.  I’ll check for you every morning for five centuries, and if we reach the five-hundred-year mark then I’ll stop checking, and we’ll never speak of this again.  In the meantime, if you have questions feel free to ask but I think for now you should retire to your room and think about what we’ve discussed.”

I nod but just stand there staring at him.  Do I want to be his toy for eternity?  He’s not wrong, by the time he’d possibly want to change the situation I wouldn’t want to anymore.  I jump slightly at the feel of his hand in the small of my back before he leads me down the stairs and out into the living room and then back up the central staircase.  He walks me down the hallway and stops outside my bedroom door.

Frowning I open my mouth to ask why we’re going to my room when all I want is to be with him.  He places his finger over my lips and tells me, “Not tonight, Luv.  You’re not the only one who has a lot to contemplate this evening.  Just remember it’s your choice, Caroline, but you only get to make the choice the once.  After that, it’ll be my choice always and forever.”

I nod so he leans in and kisses me softly before backing away and then turning and walking down the hallway.  I watch until he enters his room and closes the door before opening my door and then closing it behind me.  I lean against the door and then slide down it until I’m sitting with my knees tucked under my chin, my arms wrapped around my legs and my cheek resting on my knee.

I actually brought it up.  I told Klaus, well, mostly told him that I want to be his and his alone.  Now the question is, do I mean it?  Oh yeah, I meant it at the time, but I need to be confident that I’ll mean it for all of eternity because, as he said, there will be no going back, once I enter that room. 

He didn’t say it, but I assume I’ll spend most of my time naked and only wear clothes when humans who don’t know about the supernatural will be present.  I learned very quickly after I left Mystic Falls that the supe world has its own set of rules and it only obeys human rules when absolutely necessary, usually when a human who can’t or shouldn’t be compelled is involved. 

Am I ready to give up everything I have and am, including my fabulous wardrobe and my ability to make choices for myself, and give it to Niklaus Mikaelson, the most feared man in the whole supernatural world?

Am I nuts?  Because I really think the answer to that first question is yes.  What I want to do is run after Klaus and tell him I don’t want to wait until tomorrow morning, but if I can’t follow these simple instructions, then I have no business entering that room tomorrow.

I nod to myself and then stand and take off my clothes before folding them and placing them in my suitcase.  Walking into the bathroom, I look at myself in the floor length mirror and wonder if I’m really going to willingly become the property of The Original Hybrid.

I think I am, but in the meantime, I need to clean my face and go to bed so I can be bright eyed and bushy tailed in time to enter his dungeon in the morning.

After removing my makeup and using the bathroom, I move back into the bedroom and turn down the bed before switching off the light and lying down.  Pulling the covers up to my chin I sigh at the soft almost silky texture of the camel hair blanket brushing across my naked skin.  I’m reasonably sure that if I go through with my plan and give myself to Klaus my nights of soft beds and warm blankets will probably cease indefinitely.

Surprisingly, I fall asleep rather quickly.  When I wake at 8:15 a.m.  I’m fully refreshed, and I can’t remember what I dreamt about, but I know it was probably about Klaus because my thighs are sticky with my juices.

I sit up and then hesitate, do I dare take care of my need or do I go to that room already spun up.  Well, if I masturbate Klaus will be able to hear me so he’ll know and possibly punish me, so all things considered it’s probably safest to leave myself wanting.

Nodding to myself I get up out of bed and then make the bed before going to the bathroom and cleaning myself up.  After I’ve showered and blown my hair dry, I style it and then apply a tasteful coat of makeup, eyeliner, eyeshadow, and lip gloss.  That’s all I’ve really needed in the way of cosmetics since I transitioned.

When I’m done, I look at the clock beside the bed and then bite my lip, ten minutes to nine.

Sitting on the bed, I watch the clock slowly move closer to 9 a.m.  At 8:57 I stand from the edge of the bed and then walk to the door.  Opening it, I peek out into the hall and seeing no one I race at vampire speed down the hall and then down the stairs.  I make it to the hidden stairwell without running into anyone like Elijah or Rebekah or worse, Hayley.

I slowly walk up the stairs, and then I just stand and stare at the hand scanner.  Am I really doing this?  Am I really willingly becoming Niklaus Mikaelson’s plaything, his toy and nothing more?

The sound of footsteps on the other staircase reaches my ears, so I place my hand on the scanner and wait a moment before it beeps and the door pops open.  Pushing it open more fully I hiss when my skin comes in contact with the metal that definitely has Vervain on it, and I just stand in the doorway for a minute taking in what I can see of the room.  There are a stock and two different types of rack, and a Saint Andrew’s Cross and what I think is an Iron Maiden, and that’s just what I can see from my spot standing half in and half out of the doorway.

Taking a deep breath, I step all the way into the room but despite the pain doing so causes I hold the door open as I walk deeper into the room.  About five steps in the door slips from my fingers and slams with a resounding thud.  And my choice is made.

I take and then let out a deep breath and then kneel on the floor by the wall the calendar is hanging on.  Spreading my knees nice and wide I place my arms behind my back and grip my elbows in the opposite hands.  Arching my back, I then lower my eyes while baring my neck and then I wait… and wait.

I have no idea how long I wait, but it feels like forever before the door beeps and Klaus walks in with a very broad smile on his face.  He stops a few feet from me and looks me over.  Kicking my knees farther apart he then walks behind me and uses his boot on my ass and his hands on my shoulders to cause my back to arch more, effectively pushing my breasts up and out.

I hold the pose he put me in while he walks back in front of me and then he reaches into his pocket and takes something out before he uses his other hand to toy with my right breast.  He flicks the nipple back and forth and pinches it a couple of times until it’s a nice firm peak.  I moan at the sensation, but then he holds out my nipple with his thumb and forefinger and snaps a clamp onto it.

I say nothing, but I do gasp at the sharp pain from both the clamp squeezing my nipple tightly and the fact that there is Vervain on the clamp.  He chuckles and tells me, “Ironically, it was Bonnie Bennett who spelled these to permanently react to vampires other than my family as if they were soaked in Vervain moments before being used.  It won’t weaken you enough to be dangerous, but it _will_ hurt a bit more than just plain old clamps.”

He finishes that statement by placing the other clamp on my left nipple, which causes me to gasp again. 

The tears are pooling in the corners of my eyes but I will them not to fall, not yet.  But when Klaus reaches down and spreads my lips before toying with my clit and then placing another clamp on it I not only allow the tears to fall I also cry out before begging, “Please, Klaus.”

He places his hand around my throat and squeezes before telling me, “My given name no longer exists for you.  From this moment forward I am Master, and unless I tell you otherwise, you will always refer to me as Master when speaking to or about me.  Understood?”

He’s still squeezing my throat, so I rasp out, “Yesss Masster.”

He smiles and then leans down and kisses the side of my head before releasing my throat and telling me, “Excellent, pet.  Now I have one thing that must be done before we move on to the rest of the day’s activities.”

He leads me to a bed nestled in the corner of the rather large room and tells me, “Climb on pet.”

I do as told, hissing because the clamps burn me further when they shift from my movements.

He walks over to a counter in the opposite corner and adds some clear liquid to a bowl and then stirs the contents nine times.  When he finishes that he carries the container over and after lying down beside me he tells me, “Drink half of it.”

I hesitate, but when he frowns I tell him, “Yes, Master,” and then I take the bowl and drink half of the contents.  Fortunately, they don’t taste awful, in fact, they’re almost tasteless except for what I think is some ginger which causes my lips to tingle.

Klaus takes the bowl back and drinks the remaining potion before whispering some words, and then he lifts my wrist, and after kissing the exposed skin, he bites me.  I gasp at the pain of his teeth breaking the skin _and_ the sting of his poisonous venom entering my system.

While he drinks his hand strokes the inside of my hand and after he’s swallowed a handful of mouthfuls, he gives me his own wrist and tells me, “Drink pet.”

I gently take his arm in my hands and then kiss his wrist before biting him as gently as I can manage, not that I think he can’t handle the pain, but I don’t _want_ to cause him pain.

While I drink he whispers some more words and when I pull away after my fifth sip, he says a few more words and repeats them nine times before we begin glowing.

The glow comes out of each of us and then wraps around the both of us before becoming a single glow and then growing in size until it covers both of us entirely and then it begins to be absorbed into our skin.  The sensation almost tickles and I giggle slightly and whisper, “Ah, that tickles.”

Klaus laughs and then leans down and kisses me.  When our lips meet the glow suddenly disappears, and I know it’s now inside both of us.

He’s grinning while I try to catch my breath and when I do, I ask, “What was that, and since when can vampires do magick?”

He laughs again and asks, “Are you finished?”

I begin nodding but then realize what he means, so I instead shake my head and repeat myself, “ _Master_ , what was that and since when can vampires perform magick, _Master_.”

He leans down and pecks my lips before pulling back and saying, “Very good pet, I worried I’d be punishing you already.  As for your questions, that was a linking spell that has linked us both to each other.  So long as one of us exists the other will always come back to life and the only way to kill us is with the White Oak Stake which no longer exists so now you can’t be killed any more than I can be killed.  In fact, not even werewolf venom can kill you now.  It wouldn’t do for me to bring you into my very dangerous life and not take every precaution to protect you.  After all, I protect what’s mine.”

I nod but ask, “And the magick Master?”

He grins and tells me, “In addition to transitioning Kol was brought back from the dead twice.  The first time by our mother and the second time by the witch he loves and eventually married.  She loves him just as much as he loves her, so she wanted to make him whole and return the magick he missed so dearly for most of our existence.  The only catch was that the single spell she could find to do it required that she give _all of us_ back our magick.  Therefore, Rebekah, Elijah, Kol, and myself all got our magick back. 

Except for Kol, the magick inside each of us was dormant when we were alive.  The spell activated the magick, for lack of a better way to put it, so now _all of us_ are active witches and can perform magick.  Though none of our magick, except Davina’s, are anywhere near as strong as Kol’s is.  Davina is only more powerful than him because she has the power of all of New Orleans’ Witch Ancestors inside her.  She’s also the first and only New Orleans Witch that can perform magic outside the city limits, and that’s because the spirits of the ancestors now reside inside her instead of inside their bones in the cemeteries.”

He pauses and I just try to absorb all he’s told me before he says, “Oh and while I remember, Davina is the brunette and the other blonde woman you’ll meet is Freya, our oldest sister.  We thought she died before any of us except Finn was born, but she didn’t.  She was a witch, so we turned her before Davina did the spell, so Freya has her magick back too but no longer needs to sleep for a century every ninety-nine years to survive the centuries.”

I open my mouth to ask for more information, but his phone beeps in his pocket so he places a finger on my lips and says, “I wish I had time to finish this conversation in full _and_ to introduce you to this room properly, but both will have to wait until later today.  I have a significant meeting this morning, and you will be on your knees and by my side at all times.  If you embarrass me in any way, I will correct your behavior in front of whoever was present when you embarrassed me.  Do you understand?”

I nod and tell him, “Yes Master, I understand.”

He smiles and after rolling off the bed he says, “Good, now come along pet.  We mustn’t keep my guests waiting.”

He snaps a collar around my throat, which causes me to groan because it apparently is spelled the same as the clamps.  He then clips a leash to my new collar before leading me out of the room and back down the stairs.  Following on my hands and knees like any good pet would do I hiss when the Vervain spelled clamps and collar shift over my skin again and burn me much like my love for Klaus burns me.  Only _that_ burn will be more profound, and both more painful and yet, I hope, more rewarding.  Let’s just hope my analysis of the risks and rewards associated with loving _and_ submitting to The Original Hybrid is spot on and I’ll get everything I’ve ever dreamed of and so much more.

When we reach the bottom of the stairs, which I descended on my hands and knees Klaus turns and looks down at me with a soft smile I’ve never seen from him before.  He reaches down and strokes my cheek before he tells me, “Very good toy.”

Smiling at him I nod and then he turns and we walk into the living room proper, and before Klaus can say a word, Rebekah tells him, “So you finally got her exactly how you wanted her, but if I’ve done my math correctly you jumped the gun by about three years.  That’s not like you to lose patience.”

He smiles a broad smile and tells her, “Ah, but Bekah, Luv, my toy came to me of her own free will.  I had nothing to do with her arriving here yesterday, and as for her being my pet, well that was her doing too.  I gave her a choice, and this is what she chose.”

Rebekah nods and says, “Very well, Elijah called.  He’s running behind.  Apparently the plane your guests were on got delayed by inclement weather.”

Klaus nods and sits on a couch facing the entryway before pulling my leash towards himself and then reaching out and stroking my hair and cheek.  He smiles that soft smile again and says, “Climb up on the couch, pet, and curl up resting your head in my lap while we wait for our guests.” 

I do as told and as soon as my head lands in his lap, he begins stroking my hair again.  He just strokes my head for a few minutes before he says, “Pet I want you to know that this meeting has been scheduled for a week, so I don’t wish you to falsely believe it has anything to do with you, although I’m sure you will quickly become the focus.  Remember that any punishment for public misbehavior will be equally public.”

Crap, the fact that he’s warning me means I’m not going to like that he’s meeting whomever or that they will see me like this which can only mean one thing, “Master, it’s the Salvatores, isn’t it?”

He smiles and nods before telling me, “Yes, at first I wondered about the timing of your arrival, but last night after you retired I checked the reports I hadn’t been reading on both you and the Salvatores’ activities the last few years as well as your phone records.  Tell me pet, when was the last time you saw them?”

Thinking back I nuzzle into his hand and tell him, “I left Mystic Falls a few days after the Massacre at Alaric’s wedding.  I said goodbye to Elena and then on July 1, 2013, I left town for good.  The only person from that life that I had seen since then was Bonnie.  She and I would vacation together every summer until the summer before she died.  I chose not to return to Mystic Falls for her burial.  We knew her time was coming so we had said our goodbyes at the end of the summer, Master.”

He nods and looks at his sister before telling us, “Good, that’s exactly what the reports told me.  So I am willing to accept that your arrival the same week they contacted us for the first time in half a millennia is merely an incredibly rare coincidence.  However, know that I can and will punish you if you are conspiring against my family.”

I nod and tell him, “That’s fair, but to be honest, I wouldn’t help Damon or Stefan for that matter.  We went our separate ways, and that was that, Master.  And I gave myself over to you.  I know enough about Magick to know that the spell we did is permanent.”

He nods but points out, “Yes, however, you didn’t know I was going to perform it so you had no way of knowing giving yourself to me would be permanent.  Still, as I said, I am willing to accept that this is a very rare coincidence.”

I nod with my head still in his lap and then ask, “Um, Master, what do they want anyhow?  I mean I assume you haven’t stayed in touch?”

He nods and says, “They believe they’ve discovered a way to wake my doppelgänger, but they require the blood of all surviving originals for the spell to work.”

A moment later my eyes bug out, and my head lifts off his lap because a dead man just walked into the room.  I mean I know he already told me that Kol is alive, or undead, again but looking at Kol Mikaelson standing at the entrance to the living room and smiling widely is a little trippy because the last time I saw him, he was a burnt up corpse lying on the floor of Elena’s kitchen. 

He laughs before he says, “Caroline Forbes, what a pleasant surprise and such a beautiful vision so early in the morning.  You really should spread your legs wide open though so we can all get the full view.”

Biting my lip to keep from talking back I don’t move.  A moment later Klaus pulls on one of my nipple clamps causing me to cry out before he tells me, “From now on a suggestion or order from any member of my family is to be treated by you as though it came from me and should immediately be carried out.  And by family member, I mean both those of blood relation and those related through marriage.”

Nodding I tell him, “Yes Master,” and then I bend my knee and place my foot on the couch before then spreading my legs as wide as I can while lying on the couch.

Kol nods and tells me, “Excellent, Darling.”

He looks at Klaus and says, “I see you're utilizing the clamps the Bennett witch spelled for you.  I’m sure your new toy is thoroughly enjoying that.  Aren’t you, Darling?”

I nod and tell him, “Yes, Sir.”

When Klaus smiles and nods Kol continues and asks, “I know you didn’t go after her so that must mean I was right and she came to you?”

Klaus grins at his brother and says, “Yes Kol, for once you were right.”

Kol huffs and says, “I’ve been right a number of times if I recall, but you keep conveniently forgetting that.”

Rebekah huffs now and sitting forward in her chair asks, “Name one other time you were right!”

Kol’s smile just spreads across his face before he says, “Hmm, does the name Silas ring any bells?”

Rebekah sits back in her chair with a frown on her face while two other women, one blonde and one brunette who are standing behind Kol begin nodding.  The blonde one of them giggles and says, “He has a point there, Sister.”

Kol turns, and his smile gets impossibly wider before he tells her, “Thank you Freya, at least one of you is capable of seeing reason.”

He turns back to face us and asks, “Now, Nik, what was so important that Davina and I had to cut our holiday short?  There better be something more pressing than the arrival of your new toy.”

He holds his hand out and the brown-haired woman, presumably Davina, grabs his hand and allows him to tug her into his arms.

Klaus sighs but says, “The Salvatore brothers wish our assistance waking the doppelgänger.  Because they’re the only ones who have ever managed to best any of us, I figure it might be wise to at least hear them out.”

Kol huffs before walking further into the room and plopping his butt down on the other couch making sure to have a clear line of sight to my open crotch.  He grins at me and pulls Davina into his lap.  Looking at Klaus a moment later Kol says, “The two who managed to best me and Finn are both long dead.  The rest of them had nothing to do with it, although the doppelgänger wanted me dead and with a little help from her brother she succeeded in making that happen so I can’t say I’m inclined to help bring her back to life.”

Klaus nods and tells the whole room, “I’m aware, and I’ll be sure and give you ample opportunity to make that point abundantly clear.  Who knows, though, they might be willing to give us whatever we want because if you think about it, I doubt there is anything in this world they want more than to rouse my doppelgänger from her five-centuries-long slumber.”

Kol nods and the room lapses into silence.  Klaus continues stroking my hair, and a few minutes later Elijah enters the room followed by three men I haven’t seen since I left after the massacre at Alaric’s wedding to Jo.  Damon, Stefan, and Ric enter and seemingly don’t notice me, that is until I gasp and sit up a little when a fourth man walks into the room.  All eyes shoot toward me, and I blush the little my vampire physiology allows before shaking my head and whispering, “Sorry Master, I, I thought Tyler would be dead by now.”

Klaus pulls my head back to his lap and returns to petting my hair before he says, “You make a fair point, pet.  Young Tyler, how is it that you became human and then a werewolf again and yet five centuries later still exist while looking like a young man.  Who turned you?”

Tyler smirks and tells Klaus, “I swore not to tell you or anyone else his name unless he died the final death, but he pissed off the wrong wolf a year or two ago and got his heart ripped out, so I suppose it won’t hurt to tell.  So a man named Timothy Marks turned me in 2023.  Before you get angry, I didn’t know him, and he didn’t know of my history with you until after he had turned me.  All he knew was I was gravely injured protecting his wife and kid from some rogue wolves.  There were too many of them, and they overpowered me.  He found us before his wife and daughter could be hurt and took care of the wolves and then he turned me.  He wasn’t sure it would work because he knew that you required doppelgänger blood to turn wolves.  We were only an hour away from Mystic Falls so I told him where to find Damon and that he might have Elena’s blood stored away, so he snapped my neck and then drove us to Mystic Falls.”

Shifting on his feet and glancing over at Damon he continues his story, “When I woke I negotiated with Damon.  He’d give me the one vial of Elena’s blood that he had on hand.  In return, I’d spend as long as it takes helping them figure out a way to wake her, which is also why I’m being nice and civil towards you when what I really want is to rip your heart out.”

Ignoring Tyler’s last comment I lift my head slightly and look at Klaus before asking, “Master, may I?”

He nods so I ask, “Uh, correct me if I’m wrong but when Bonnie died a little more than two centuries ago Elena should have woken up, no?”

Damon grunts the same time Tyler asks, “What the fuck Care?  You’re with Klaus and calling him Master while buck-naked in his lap?  I always knew it was him you wanted.”

I continue to ignore him and raise my brow at Damon and Stefan and ask, “Damon, why didn’t Elena wake when Bonnie passed?”

He and Stefan both shrug but it’s Damon who says, “We’re not sure, but a witch who owes us a huge favor or three assures us that the spell she wrote will wake Elena.  Unfortunately for us, it requires the blood of all of the second and third lines of surviving direct descendants of the original witch.”

Kol huffs and asks, “So not only do you require _our_ blood but you want my niece’s blood as well.  Why should we even help you lot?  In case you’ve forgotten your group killed Finn _and_ me and tried to kill the rest of us multiple times.”

Damon frowns but tells us, “Look we get that there is no love lost between you and us, but the witch wrote a second spell that can be done right after the first one which will make it possible for Klaus to sire hybrids without the use of Elena or her descendant's blood.”

Klaus chuckles and tells him, “Look around you Damon.”

My eyes travel the room and widen when I count 12 hybrids standing guard around the room, and that’s only the ones I can see from my vantage point lying on the couch.

Damon, Stefan, and Alaric all make a show of looking around the room too before Klaus tells them, “As you can see you’re surrounded by hybrids, one even turned Tyler.  We already did a spell to make me able to sire hybrids freely, oh a little over 475 years ago.  So unless my family feels compelled to help out of the goodness of their hearts, I’m afraid you don’t have anything we might want.”

Stefan steps forward and looks at me for a minute, but I shake my head to tell him I won’t be arguing their case on their behalf.  He nods once and then says, “Klaus, think of it this way, Carline is your mate and Elena is Damon’s mate.  Think of how you would feel if you were permanently separated from Caroline.  That’s what Damon is going through.  If you won’t help us for your own gain, then consider doing it for Caroline.  And no, I’m not suggesting she would ask this of you, but do it to honor your relationship with Caroline and what she means to you.”

Tyler snorts at that last bit but Stefan continues undaunted, “We’ll even tell everyone who might ask about your involvement that we gave you several top secret things including the unlimited, to be named later favors, which we will actually promise to grant anytime you wish.”

Klaus doesn’t say anything and just stares at Stefan while continuing to stroke my hair and cheek.  After long minutes he reaches down and pulls hard on the clamp on my right breast before twisting it causing me to cry out and beg, “Please, Master, please.”

He just smiles and looking down at me asks, “Would it please you if I help them?”

I know that’s a trick question so smiling at him with my head still in his lap I tell him, “I want what you want Master, so if it pleases you then it will please me, if not, well then…”

He grins broadly and then looks at his guests and tells them, “My family and I need to discuss this privately.  Elijah will arrange for a car to take you to your hotel.  We’ll call when we have your answer for you.”

Damon opens his mouth, no doubt to argue the point, but Stefan just places his hand on Damon’s shoulder and shakes his head slightly.  Damon nods back, and Elijah leads them out of the room.

When Elijah comes back into the room a few minutes later, he sits in an armchair and crosses his legs before asking, “So what are everyone’s thoughts?  Personally, I think it might be useful to have those unlimited, to be named later favors.  If nothing else, that group has always been resourceful and if by chance one of our favors gets one or more of them killed it won’t affect us or cost us anything other than our blood for this one spell.”

Davina sits up straighter in Kol’s lap and says, “Well, I don’t trust them farther than I can throw them so I’d want Kol and me to read over this spell before they get anywhere near your blood.  _And_ any spell work should be done in our home or this one where we have the wards in place that will prevent any spell from being performed if it might harm you or our family.”

Kol kisses the side of her forehead and then says, “I agree with Davina.  We do no spell, and our blood doesn’t leave our bodies until we’ve guaranteed our safety.  While Elijah and Hayley and Davina and myself can’t be killed because of the linking spell we did with our mates the rest of you _can_ be killed.”

Klaus sits up a little straighter and tells them, “Caroline and I are also indestructible as well.”

Smiling Rebekah asks, “So you already did the spell?”

He nods so she smiles back and tells me, “Welcome to the family Caroline.”

Smiling I nod and tell her, “Thank you, um, how should I refer to your siblings and their mates Master?”

Smiling he leans down and kisses me softly on the lips, and when he pulls away, he tells me, “Call them Master or Mistress and their given name.”

I nod and tell him, “Yes Master,” then turning my face to better see Rebekah  on the other side of Klaus I tell her, “Thank you, Mistress Rebekah.”

She smiles and says, “You’re welcome deary.”  She looks at each of her brothers after speaking and then says, “I think we should do it once we ascertain that they’re not being sneaky and trying to trick us into doing anything that we haven’t expressly agreed to participate in.”

They all nod before Klaus takes out his phone and types a text.  The phone beeps a moment later, and then he tells the room, “Hayley and Hope should be back from the bayou in the next half hour so we can discuss it with Hope because I won’t force her to do it so if she objects then that’s a deal breaker.”

They all nod and they sit and chat amongst themselves while I focus on Klaus’ hand rhythmically stroking my hair.  Tyler’s alive, and Elena’s still asleep.  I figured they’d both be dead by now.  I feel nothing but contempt for Tyler even after all these years.  He had the choice between loving and being with me and going after Klaus.  He chose his lust for revenge against Klaus.  Smiling slightly I recall that Klaus chose me instead of vengeance and his revenge had been longer coming and he still chose me.

I’m brought out of my thoughts by new people arriving, It’s Hayley and a young woman who looks to be somewhere between 18 and 21 years old, but I know she’s only 21 or so years younger than me.  She’s a brunette spitting image of Klaus.  He slips out from under my head and stands before walking to the girl and enveloping her in a warm hug.  He smiles when he pulls away and says, “Have a good time visiting your mother’s relatives, Luv?”

She nods but then her eyes land on me, and she asks, “Is that her?  Did she finally come to you, Papa?”

He nods and turns to look at me before holding out his hand and telling me, “Come here pet.”

Crawling onto the floor, I move to his side and then present.  Out of the corner of my eye, I see his smile widen before he says, “Hope, this is my Mate, Caroline Forbes.  Pet, this is my daughter, Hope.”

Hope nods at me and I smile and tell her, “Pleased to meet you, Mistress Hope.”

She grins the same grin I’ve seen her father wear when he’s inordinately pleased with something before she says, “Papa, you obviously not only got her but got her the way you wanted her all these years.  Your doing or hers?”

Chuckling he says, “Her doing.  She showed up on our doorstep yesterday afternoon.”

Hope loses some of her smile and asks, “Not to rain on your parade but isn’t it suspicious that she showed up within days of the Salvatores calling and asking for your help?”

He nods but says, “I’ve chosen to give her the benefit of the doubt one final time.”

Kol speaks up from his place on the other couch and says, “We could always do a spell or two to determine not only young Caroline’s loyalty but also tell us what the Salvatores are really up to.  They’ll never know, and we’ll be assured of what is actually happening without any great risk to us and ours.”

Klaus nods and asks, “That’s an excellent idea, Kol.  What do you need to do it?  I haven’t done much spellwork since before you left for your holiday so my herb stores should still be close to what they were when you restocked for me before leaving.”

Kol nods and kisses Davina before lifting her off his lap and standing.  He leaves the room and then comes back a minute later with his arms full of multiple things including several bottles of herbs and a bowl.

He sets everything up on the coffee table in front of the couches and then begins chanting.  He holds out his hand towards me, and Klaus tells me, “Go give him your hand so he can take some of your blood.”

I nod and tell him, “Yes Master,” and do as I was told to do.  Kol continues chanting and only pauses briefly to slice my hand with a knife.  My blood falls into the bowl and lands on top of a piece of paper inside the container.

Kol’s voice rises incrementally until he shouts the chant one last time and a puff of smoke erupts from the bowl.  Reaching into the bowl, he takes the paper out before reading it and then smiling and handing it to Klaus who reads it.

Klaus hands it to me, and I look down at it and smile at the words, “Mikaelson Family” written on it in my blood.

Klaus is still smiling when he takes the paper back from me and hands it to Rebekah who smiles too and says, “Well I guess that’s that.  She’s loyal to us and only us.”

She hands the paper to Elijah who reads it and nods before giving it to Freya.  A moment later Kol clears his throat and then says, “Okay, this next one requires one of us to see a vision of what the Salvatores are planning.  Any volunteers?”

Klaus grunts but says, “Because it was ultimately Katerina who involved them in our business and _me_ who involved Katerina I will volunteer if no one else objects.”

They all nod, so Klaus goes and lays down on the couch with his legs hanging off the edge.  Kol smiles and says, “The nature of the spell will allow you to remember every detail with perfect clarity.”

Klaus nods so Kol performs the second spell, and we wait while Klaus’ eyes flutter behind his closed eyelids.

Ten or so minutes later I’m fidgeting despite the pain moving causes my nipples and clit when his eyes pop open, and he sits up and turns placing his feet back on the ground.  He holds out his hand toward me, so I crawl over to him and put my hand in his.  He pulls me up onto the couch beside him and sits back with my head in his lap again.  I make sure to spread my legs once more just like Kol told me to the first time.

Everyone is looking at Klaus expectantly before he chuckles and says, “They’re after what they’ve always been after, our demise.  Apparently, they heard that the Sirelines were severed but not that Davina restored them so they plan to use our blood to wake Elena like they said and then slide a back-door spell into the mix to link us and turn us human like mother tried to so that they can kill us once and for all.”

Of all the stupid, hairbrained, crazy, idiotic… stupid things.  They have peace, and they’re ruining it for what?  Revenge, and it’s not even like they owe the Mikaelsons.  We’re all pretty much even at this point.  Frowning I tell them all, “Just another classic example of someone choosing revenge over everything else.  They’re choosing wrong just like Tyler did, although I’d be willing to bet, Master, that Tyler is the main force behind them trying to kill all of you.  All he’d have to do is bring it up a few times to Damon and Damon would latch on, and then they’d all conspire to end you, and it wouldn’t take much prompting from Tyler.”

Shaking my head, I tell them, “I don’t understand what is wrong with him.  He had his freedom, hell you didn’t even know he still exists, and yet he revealed himself just to try to end you when you haven’t even done anything to him in centuries.”

Klaus runs his fingers through my hair and tells me, “I know pet.  Now the question is what do we do about it?”

Kol smiles and says, “Davina and I have been working on a variation of the linking spell the mates in our family have been using.  We should be able to link all of us together and make our current states permanent.  Meaning they wouldn’t be able to turn us human, which means they won’t be able to kill us either because we wouldn’t be able to become spirits any more than we’d be able to become human.  We would for all intents and purposes be eternally the way we are the moment the spell is performed.  Those not Mated could still do the original linking spell when they eventually find their mate but in the meantime, we’d all be safe from all of our enemies instead of only those of us who have been fortunate enough to find our mates being the only ones definitively safe.”

They all nod before Klaus adds, “Rebekah, Luv, you should know that Stefan doesn’t know what his brother and Tyler plan.  He came here for you.  He misses you, and I suggest we do the loyalty spell on him first chance we get, but I believe he is also loyal to us.”

Elijah removes a bloody handkerchief from his pants pocket and asks, “Kol is this enough blood to do the spell?”

Everyone’s eyes are round like saucers before Kol laughs and asks, “And how exactly did you get young Stefan’s blood?”

Elijah shrugs and tells us, “Damon disagreed with him about something and cold-cocked him in the nose, causing a nosebleed.  I volunteered my handkerchief to him, and I made sure to collect it from the back of the car before they left.  I figured it might prove useful.”

Klaus and Rebekah laugh and Klaus says, “Indeed, brother.”

Kol takes the scrap of cloth, and after wetting the hankie enough to be able to ring out some of the blood, he redoes the spell.  A few minutes later the bowl lets out a puff of smoke and Rebekah reaches in and steals the paper from Kol before he can see it.  She reads and then lets out an audible sigh and says, “Oh thank the heavens.” 

She hands the paper back to Kol, and the scrap goes around the room.  I’m last to read it, but I too let out a sigh of relief at the words, “Mikaelson Family” written in Stefan’s blood on the page.

Klaus sits up straighter and says, “So how do we approach this?  I’m open to suggestions.”

Kol smirks a smirk similar to Klaus’ crazy serial killer smile and says, “We could always kill Elena.  She’s vulnerable right now, and we still have some of her blood so we could do a tracking spell.  This many years after Bonnie’s death any of her cloaking spells would be weak enough for me to break through and if we all team up and join power we should be able to decimate the cloaking spells of any other witches the Salvatores have employed to protect Elena.”

I raise my head and ask softly, “Master, may I?”

He nods so I shift to get a better view of the room and tell him, “The one thing that would unhinge Damon permanently and make him want your heads even more than he already does is your hurting or killing Elena.  It always comes back to Elena for him, Master.”

Sitting up a bit more I look at Kol and ask, “Master Kol, you said their spell to kill all of you won’t work, right?”

He nods so I nod back and tell them all, “So, maybe tell them you know what they’re planning, and you will help revive Elena in exchange for blood oaths from all four of them that they won’t act against you or yours ever again.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but Bonnie said blood oaths kill the person who swore it if it’s broken.  They die instantly, no?”

Everyone nods so I nod back and tell them, “Then tell them the only way you’ll help is if they each swear a blood oath not to act against any of you.  Damon will do it just to save Elena.  If Stefan is loyal to you guys, then he’ll do it too.  Ric is Elena centric like Damon, but in a more fatherly way so he’ll concede and do it with minimal protest if any.  The only one, Master, who probably will balk is Tyler but if he swore to help wake Elena Damon might have been smart enough to make him swear a blood oath to him so we should get him to agree simply by making it an all or nothing deal.  Either they all swear the oath, or you refuse to help.  Worst comes to worst, Master, Damon will rip Tyler’s heart out simply to make him no longer part of the deal.”

Klaus is nodding, and so is everyone else.  After a moment of consideration, Klaus says, “I like her plan.  I think it’ll work.”

Everyone gives an affirmative response, so Davina and Kol set about doing their linking spell.  When it’s over Klaus looks at Elijah and tells him, “If we’re all agreed on our course of action then you should call them and have them return because I don’t know about all of you but the faster they’re out of our city the happier I’ll be.”

I lift my head again and tell them, “Maybe you could make part of the agreement be that Davina does the spell.  That way, Master, that would remove their witch from the equation and make everything less likely to blow up in our faces.”

Kol smiles and asks, “The plans the Salvatores made in the past that were successful, you contributed to the planning didn’t you?”

I shrug and tell him, “In most cases, Master Kol.  By the way, I’m sorry that I helped distract Master so they could dagger you, and to all of you I’m sorry for trying to kill all of you and also for my involvement in Finn’s death.”

Klaus pats my shoulder before going back to stroking my hair and tells me, “Pet, we know you had nothing to do with Finn's death.  The Donovan boy and Stefan and my doppelgänger were the primary forces involved in killing him.”

I nod but tell them all, “Even still I helped cultivate the anti-Mikaelson culture we all lived by for so long so for what it’s worth I’m sorry for every slight I helped perpetrate against any of you.”

They all nod and Klaus leans down and kisses me again before telling them all, “I told you she was different than the rest and willing to apologize and make amends if she discovered her thoughts or behavior were wrong.”

They all nod and Rebekah and Kol say at the same time, “We stand corrected, Nik.”

They both look at me and then Klaus before Kol asks, “Perhaps we can take our pound of flesh at a later time now that she’s your pet?”

Klaus is wearing his scary serial killer smile again, and so is Kol, so I shiver when Klaus nods and says, “That is agreeable to me.  Each of you may work out your pain and frustration on my pet in the future and for as long as necessary to resolve any lingering issues any of you may have with her.  In fact, all of you may use her any way you like and at any time provided I don’t already have plans for her.”

They all nod and Oh God, I’m doomed.  That smirk on Kol’s face, while he nods at Klaus, is enough to tell me that significant pain is looming in my not so distant future. 

Klaus looks at his older brother and brings us back to the issue currently at hand when he says, “Going back to our previous subject, Elijah, let’s do as my pet suggested.  Tell them _our_ witch will review and then perform the spell if everything is in order.”

Elijah nods and leaves the room.  He comes back in a few minutes later and says, “They weren’t happy with the provision that Davina will be the only one doing the spell work, but they’ve agreed to come hear the rest of our terms.  They should be here in twenty minutes.”

Everyone nods, and we sit quietly while Klaus alternates between stroking my hair and pulling and twisting my clamps.  Kol is staring at me in a way that lets me know that he will be taking Klaus up on his very open-ended offer and I will not only be Klaus’ plaything but Kol’s as well for the foreseeable future.  I think Rebekah is working through some ideas for how to pay me back for my slights against their family too, so I'm pretty sure my future is going to be pain filled for some time to come. 

It’s not as though I don’t deserve it though.  I could have said no every time the others tried to recruit me to help in their schemes against the Mikaelsons, but I didn’t say no, I went along with it even after I realized that we were in the wrong more so than the originals were.  So I’ll accept whatever punishments they all bestow upon me with the grace and aplomb my mother taught me to have.

By the time a hybrid comes into the room announcing that the Salvatores are here I have tears running down my face from Klaus’ playing with my clamps.  Klaus leans down and licks my tears before telling me, “Have you figured out yet that the more I play with the clamps, the more the Vervain effect increases in strength.  I’ll tell you pet, your friend Bonnie sure was creative when it came to torture implements.”

He and Kol both mentioned Bonnie doing the spell on the clamps earlier, but I forgot to ask about it.  I open my mouth and then close it figuring now isn’t the time to be asking that question, but Klaus nods and tells me, “Ask your question, toy.”

Frowning I ask, “Thank you, Master.  When did Bonnie spell the clamps?  Last I knew she hated you so I’m confused about how you would come into possession of items that she spelled, particularly items intended for torture, which last I checked she was wholly against.”

I may have been the one to ask the question, but Damon is leaning towards us slightly obviously wanting an answer too.  Klaus smiles one of his scary smiles and says, “I made a deal with Ms.  Bennett about a decade after my doppelgänger fell asleep.  She heard of some vampires conspiring to locate Elena and use her blood to turn me human so they could kill me.  Ms.  Bennett agreed to help us with certain spell work her family always excelled at and in return I put an end to those planning to drain Elena.  We worked together off and on in that endeavor right up until about a month before she passed.  I have, of course, continued to keep an ear out and have removed anyone from the equation who might get ideas in their head about using the cure for any purpose.  I swore a blood oath to protect my doppelgänger from any who would use her or otherwise harm her while she is in this magickally induced sleep.”

Everyone from Mystic Falls has wide round eyes after his explanation, including me. 

He waits a moment to let the truth settle in our minds and then he says, “Speaking of blood oaths we will require all four of you to swear blood oaths not to try to harm any Mikaelson or anyone we might consider ours or to help anyone else try to harm us or ours.”

As expected the only one not nodding is Tyler who says, “Absolutely not.”

Damon turns to look at him and says, “You swore a blood oath to _me_ to do anything necessary to help me protect _and_ wake Elena.  That means if you don’t agree to Klaus’ terms you’ll be in violation of _our_ agreement which will mean instant death the moment you definitively say no.  I don’t really care one way or the other if you die or not but I would think it would be stupid to give up your life just because you couldn’t let go of your thirst for revenge against Klaus.”

Tyler folds his arms across his chest and says, “Dude,  he killed my mom.”

Damon huffs and says, “ _Dude_ , we killed two of his brothers and then _you_ gloated over one of said brother’s burnt body.  I think you’re even.”

Tyler shakes his head and says, “He stole the love of my life from me.”

I laugh a laugh utterly devoid of any humor at that and tell him, “No Tyler, you did that all by yourself.  I gave you a choice.  You either kept going after Master, or you got to love and be loved by me.  You chose wrong, and while we’re on the subject I gave the same choice to my Master, and he gave up his 500-year long quest for revenge against Katherine just for the possibility that I might knock on his door someday.  You had a guaranteed thing, and you chose revenge.  Meanwhile, he had a very up in the air thing, and he chose the slight possibility that I might choose him someday down the line.  You would have immediately had me, and he waited 497 years to get me.  Do you get what I’m saying?  You lost me because you couldn’t see past your hatred for him.  He got me because he not only tried but successfully saw past his hatred of Katherine and remember he had been hating and hunting and remotely torturing her for 500 years but he still chose me instead of that revenge that had consumed him for half a millennium.”

Tyler opens his mouth so I hold up my hand and tell him, “No, you had hated him for less than a few years, and you couldn’t let it go.  That falls on you, no one else.  So while I know Master is guilty of a lot of things, many, or okay, probably most of them pretty monstrous, he is not now nor will he ever be responsible for the destruction of _my_ relationship with _you_.  You tore it apart all on your own.  Even 500 years later you’re blaming every little thing that goes wrong in your life on my Master.  I’m sick of it.  Grow up for Pete’s sake.  You’re over 500 years old, and I know you were about to lay blame for something else, anything else, at his feet.  He forgot about you and moved on but you, you never forgot your hatred of him and I couldn’t be second fiddle to your hatred for him.  I deserve better than to be second place.”

Tyler scoffs and asks, “Oh and you think crawling around naked and obeying his every command makes you number one.  You’re still just as stupid and vapid as you ever were.  He doesn’t love you Care.  He doesn’t know how.”

Klaus opens his mouth, but I reach for his hand and shake my head at him when he looks at me before telling Tyler, “Maybe he doesn’t.  Only time will tell on that front, but time has shown me categorically that _you_ definitely don’t know how to love me.  I’d rather follow in Master’s footsteps in this matter and take a chance that someday he’ll love me the way I love him, totally and completely.  To be honest, he’s already shown beyond a doubt, in my mind at least, that he not only is capable of love but that he loves me, silly neurotic me.  He wants me and loves me for me which is far more than I could ever say about you.”

Tyler frowns but then opens his mouth and says, “You’re delusional Care.”

I nod and tell him, “Maybe I am, but that’s my prerogative.  Now, what’s your decision?  Are you going to choose revenge and kill yourself by breaking a blood oath that is by every indication fairly easy to keep?  Or are you finally going to let go of your hate and swear this blood oath not to go after the Mikaelsons?”

I pause to see if he’ll answer.  When I look in his eyes, I see the wheels spinning trying to find an angle, so I add, “You will also swear not to go after or try to harm anyone they consider theirs.”  I pause again and then say, “Or any of their properties or businesses, or the property or businesses of anyone they consider theirs, past, present, or future or to help anyone else do any of the aforementioned things.”

He shakes his head and asks, “What happened to you Care?”

I shrug and tell him, “Put simply, _you_ happened to me.  I was second choice one too many times.  It’s why I left and never looked back.  None of you, except Bonnie and occasionally Stefan, ever put me first and honestly, it took some time before Stefan truly acted like the friend he claimed to be.  Now if you don’t mind my Master promised to give me an extensive tour of his dungeon so could you hurry it up and make your choice so we can either do the spell or dispose of your dead body _and then_ do the spell.”

Kol bursts out laughing, and when everyone turns to look at him, he says in between chuckles, “Sorry, it’s just I didn’t believe you, Nik when you said she’s a force to be reckoned with.  I bought into the whole flighty blonde distraction act she played so well.  But she’s quite something, isn’t she?  I’m almost jealous.”

Davina huffs and pouts on his lap, so he leans in and whispers in her ear, “I said almost Darling.  I’ve had you all these years and couldn’t be happier about that, and I wouldn’t trade you for a thousand Caroline’s,” he looks up from Davina’s hair where his face has been buried and tells me, “No offense.”

Giggling I tell him, “None taken, Master Kol.  I totally understand.”

He nods, and then everyone turns in unison to look at Tyler.  We just stare for a minute or two while he begins to fidget before Klaus raises an eyebrow and asks, “Well, what is your choice Mate.  Life or death?”

Tyler sighs and his shoulders sag before he says, “Life.”

Klaus smiles and slips out from under my head again to stand and tell them, “We have a spell that will allow you to swear your oath to all of us without having to shed blood separately for each of us.”

Kol hands Klaus the bowl and the knife, so Klaus walks to Stefan and says, “Your hand Mate.”

When Stefan raises his hand Damon puts his hand over it and says, “We want your word that you won’t intentionally attack or try to harm any of us either.  I figure a mutual blood oath won’t hurt anyone since none of us will be attacking you so you won’t need to attack us.”

Klaus turns and looks at every member of his family.  When they all nod at him he turns back and says, “Fine, we’ll swear the same oath.”

Damon nods and then releases his brother’s hand, so Stefan gives it to Klaus and Klaus slices open Stefan’s palm allowing the blood to pour into the bowl.  When he’s done with Stefan, he goes to Damon and then Alaric and repeats the process.  Once they’ve bled into the dish, Klaus turns to Tyler and reaches for his hand.  Tyler stands perfectly still until the last minute when he places his hand in Klaus’ grasp and allows him to slice open his palm.  The blood flows into the bowl, and then afterward Klaus collects blood from each of his siblings, their mates, and Hope.  I’m last, and he winks at me before slicing my hand for the second time today.

The spell is relatively simple and over before I know it, and then everyone drinks some of the blood until it’s gone.

When the spell snaps into place, Damon clears his throat and asks, “So it’s true the originals have magick now?”

They all bob their heads up and down, so Damon just nods back, and then he takes his phone out of his pocket and texts someone.  When he put his phone back into his pocket a moment later, he says, “Our witch will teleport Elena’s casket into this room in three minutes.”

Almost exactly three minutes later a flash of light appears and when my vision clears a mahogany casket is lying on a rolling cart in the space between the Mikaelsons and the Salvatores.  Damon opens the coffin and looks down at his love.  He leans down and places a kiss on her lips before whispering, “Soon you’ll be awake, and we’ll be together.”

Davina stands up from her place on the couch and hands the dish she takes from Kol’s outstretched hand to Damon before telling him, “We need her blood, and I figure even with the blood oath you won’t want anyone else to bleed her.”

Damon nods but asks, “I haven’t given you the spell yet?”

Davina nods back and says, “I know, but I figure you’ll want a minute to brace yourself for hurting her even if it’s only a superficial cut so while you prepare to cut her, I’ll read the spell.” 

She holds her hand out, and he takes a folded piece of parchment out of his coat pocket and hands it to her.  He takes the knife Kol gives him and turns to face Elena.  Davina reads while Damon takes a deep breath and then slices Elena’s hand and allows her blood to collect in the bowl. 

When he has enough, he takes a bandage out of his pocket and wraps it around Elena’s hand.  Turning to face Davina she smiles at him and says, “Hmm, I think we’ll skip the part that would link the Mikaelsons and turn them human so that you don’t go breaking your blood oath so soon but this first part looks doable.”

He shrugs and says, “Oops, believe it or not, I actually forgot about that but your right best to skip it.”

She giggles and nods so she and Kol prepare the ingredients, and then they perform the spell.  The whole time Damon stands as close to Elena’s body as he can get.

While Davina chants the spell nine times, I turn my eyes to look at Elena lying in her casket and smile when after Davina shouts the last line a ninth time Elena’s eyes shoot open.

She smiles when her eyes land on Damon and he smiles back and leans down and kisses her before whispering, “You are a sight for sore eyes, Elena.”

She giggles and says, “You too.”

He helps her sit up and then picks her up and lifts her out of her coffin.

Before anyone else can say a word, Klaus asks, “Elena, the terms of our helping Damon and company revive you was a blood oath swearing that they won’t try to harm us, anyone we consider ours, our property or businesses or the property or businesses of anyone we’ve claimed.  They also swore that they won’t help anyone else do any of those things either.  Will you in return for our helping revive you swear the same oath?  We will also swear it to you just as we did for your friends.”

She looks at Damon who nods so she nods and says, “Sure.”

And so we do one more spell.  When it’s over Damon wraps his arms around Elena and begins to lead her out of the building.  Before they leave my hearing range, I hear Elena ask, “Was that Caroline literally sitting naked at Klaus’ feet?”

Damon says, “Yes.”

Then a moment passes before Elena says, “Huh, guess she finally stopped fighting her feelings for him.  Good for her.”

Damon asks, “You’re not opposed to her belonging to Klaus?”

She says, “No, I know it’s what she’s always wanted, and since he and all the rest of them swore not to try to hurt any of us I don’t have a problem with her fraternizing with the enemy.”

Their car gets too far away for me to be able to hear Damon’s response.

I startle when I realize I was so focused on Damon and Elena that I failed to realize that Stefan stayed behind.  He and Rebekah leave the room hand in hand, and I look up at Klaus standing before me looking down at me with one of his scary smiles on his face again.

His grin widens before he asks, “Ready for that tour pet?”

Nodding I tell him, “Yes Master.”

He reaches out his hand, and I take it and allow him to pull me off the couch.  Dropping to my knees, he grabs hold of the previously forgotten leash and leads me out of the room and up to the dungeon.  This will be the first of what I am sure will be many scenes that will comprise my best effort to love and serve Niklaus Mikaelson, the most feared creature in the supernatural world, now and forevermore.

 

**“…** You know whether we can do anything

I know that you can do everything

You said that we should try many things

Let's make an hour so we can do everything

 

I can find a way to make you love me more than you do

Caroline

I don't want to waste my time unless I'm loving you

My dear

Caroline, Caroline, Caroline…”

**____________________**

**The End**

**____________________**


End file.
